Ogier lost
After victory at Rally Finland, Sebastian Ogier was in such form that it seemed like if he just decided to turn up to the rest of the season, a ninth championship was going to be his.
Fast forward three rallies and Ogier’s return to full-time competition has been, without resorting to hyperbole, a bit of a disaster. He scored Saturday points in Greece, all the possible Sunday points in Chile and nothing at all in Central Europe. Each time he sent his GR Yaris at some kind of scenery. In Central Europe he took out a telegraph pole and didn’t do Toyota’s hopes of a manufacturers’ crown any good at all.
He looked the right level of angry with himself as he and co-driver (and weekend birthday boy) Vincent Landais pulled themselves from the wreckage and surveyed what happened. Whether or not Ogier was really there hoping for a ninth title (and to say he didn’t want it at least a little is a bit naive), he was there to secure more points for Toyota than a stuttering Elfyn Evans was managing. He has been comprehensively outscored by the Welshman. Some soul searching will have to follow for the French legend.
Manufacturers battle remains very much on
One rally ago Toyota was on top of the world. It had slashed Hyundai’s lead in the championship and was looking forward to a triumphant return to its home rally for the season finale. The momentum was with the Japanese team. One good Central European Rally and the title would be in its hands.
Well, the Central European Rally did pretty much nothing other than reduce the rallies left to decide the championship. What was a 17 point gap is now 15. Both teams have some stuttering drivers, both have some finding form. It could be very interesting.
Hyundai will be confident in Japan, even if it is Toyota’s home rally. The i20N might not have demonstrated its prowess on tarmac as strongly across the roads of Germany, Austria and Czechia, but it has proven itself to be the stronger of the Rally1 cars on closed surfaces this year. But with Toyota at home, and having scored a 1,2,3,5 last year, this one is very much on.
By the way, if Ogier hadn’t binned his GR Yaris, Toyota could have been eight or more points closer. On such margins…
Bad weekend, good weekend for Pajari
Away from the very top battle, it was a mixed weekend for Toyota’s young star Sami Pajari. Pajari has impressed massively since he started driving Rally1 cars earlier this year But he dented that good work a little by writing off his GR Yaris on the final day at the CER. We’re pretty sure that Toyota won’t mind that, this is a learning process, but it’s bound to play on the Finn’s mind in the coming week.
However, he needs to pick himself up, because there is a title battle still on for Pajari. While he was away playing in Rally1 cars, his fellow WRC2 title contenders were tripping over themselves not to take advantage of his absence.
First Oliver Solberg struggled in Chile, finishing fourth when he had the chance to take the title there and then. Then Yohan Rossel, who won in Chile to narrow the gap right down, proceeded to have a nightmare in Central Europe, ending his title chances.
Now we go to Japan with only Pajari eligible to score points. Solberg and Rossel have both exhausted their seven allowed score-gathering rallies. It’s a simple set of maths. Score more than 15 points, win the championship. Pajari is the form driver in WRC2 even without having been there, so we’d put some decent money on it being a Toyota driver that wears the second tier crown in 2024.
Taka’s decent return
A final short word for Takamoto Katsuta. The Japanese driver was, to be honest quite rightly, benched by Toyota in Chile. This was not necessarily because Toyota had lost faith, but more to give Katsuta a rest. He had begun to look more and more lost as the 2024 season progressed, a season that for his career, really needed to see him move forward.
Back in a Rally1 car in Central Europe and Katsuta, without setting the world ablaze, looked much happier. Fourth overall was good, but grabbing full Sunday points is massive for Toyota in the manufacturers’ championship, and is exactly what Katsuta is there to do. More of that at home in Japan and he will do his chances of another full season drive a world of good.
WRC
Talking points
Thierry Neuville
Ott Tänak
Sebastian Ogier
Sami Pajari
race
modern
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Publish date : 2024-10-23 04:20:00
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